Step Over The Edge
by Captain Ronnie
Summary: Chekov shows up late one day, then not at all the next day for his shift. Spock was sent to find him, and the captain asked him to get to the bottom of things.
1. Chapter 1

[Written for a LJ community called 12 stories, the prompt is "Pain".]

Notes before the story: (there is no real order to these)

Sorry if I'm horrible at getting Chekov's accent. Don't be confused by the presence of Kirk; he is a larger character, but he isn't the main focus. But - Spock doesn't come in until later on. Also, because I'm crazy (who isn't on here?) I have this thing with identifying pronouns (he, she, it), and it gets really hard to do that when just about all the characters in the story could be labeled as 'he', so I hope it makes sense. I hope I get the characters right...if there's anything wrong, let me know so I can fix it in future stories.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own the characters or Star Trek.

* * *

Chapter 1

Every inch of his body ached, as he lay mostly naked on his bed. He wanted to cry, but he knows it won't help; in fact, it may even make it worse. The cold hands and the hot breath, every touch, every feeling lingered on his body. He was ashamed to let it go on this long, but he knew that at this point it wasn't worth stopping. He could barely move, and he knew that it would only get worse. He eventually drifted off to sleep, not from exhaustion, but from fear. His dreams were the only place he felt safe.

Pavel knew that wandering the halls was his predator, and like a hungry lion, he only fed off of the weak and powerless.

* * *

The next morning Pavel awoke, still in the same position as the night before. He stood up slowly, wincing at the pain. He looked in his mirror and saw some new bruises on his torso, and finger marks on his arms. He sighed, and started picking up his clothing that were thrown to all corners of this room the night before. Pavel turned back to his bed, and saw a stain on the sheets. He walked over and ripped his sheets up from the bed, knocking everything off onto the floor. Still holding the sheets, he fell backwards crying. He held his legs with his harms, his head down between his legs. After a few minutes, he heard a knock at the door.

He quickly got up, wiped his eyes and grabbed his uniform shirt, the long-sleeve one, and threw it on. It was fortunate his predator let him wear boxers to sleep last night, which was a step up from normal; otherwise he'd have to find some. He pressed the button next to his door and it opened, revealing the Captain, Jim Kirk.

Without even looking around he stared straight at him and said, "Chekov, can I have a word with you?"

He turned looked him briefly then back, "I am sorry captain, but I am afraid zat zis is a bad time."

"This is important."

Pavel motioned to speak, but he reluctantly nodded. "Vhat do you need, sir?"

"There have been reports of a few nights these past few weeks of loud noises, sometimes banging, other times it's muffled yelps. Is everything all right?" Jim finally took notice of his eyes, "Have you been crying?"

Pavel was stunned, and even more embarrassed. He was holding back his tears. "Er, vell…um…I vas getting ready for my shift, and I got somesing in my eye, captain." He paused, "And ze noises…vell, I haf no clue."

Jim wasn't content with his answer, and even though he was captain, he didn't want to force anything out of him. If it were something big, he probably would have known earlier, because he knew the young navigator trusted him.

"Well…all right."

"If you don't mind, captain, I haf to get back to vhat I vas doing."

Pavel pressed the 'close' button, but Jim caught it. "Woah, woah. Hold on." He opened it a bit more, "If there's anything wrong, you know you can come to me. I mean, even though you're just a kid, I respect you."

"Thank you, sir. I vill let you know if anysing happens."

"Good. I'll see you on the bridge." He let the door shut before leaving Pavel alone in his torn up hovel.

* * *

Pavel didn't really feel anything anymore, at least not the immediate day after. With the exception of the physical pain, that is. His predator always came randomly, and whenever he wasn't around anybody he would jump turning every corner. That day he was taking a break in one of the rec rooms with Nyota. The only thing he could think about were those nights. He knew he was terrified of this bloodthirsty animal, and he still didn't even know his face, but he knew the body very well. Almost _too _well. He shuddered at the thought.

Nyota looked over at him. "Hey, you all right?" She asked, sizing him up.

He quickly turned his head to her, "Actually, no. No I'm not." _Vhat am I doing! I can't tell her vhat's going on. She vill laugh at me..._

A look of concern spread across her face, "What's wrong?"

Just then, a burly man and about 3/4'ths his size walked in. He eyed the smaller man, and he looked at him like he was bait. His heart sank, and his eyes widened. Fear struck his entire body, and he stood up and ran from the room, pushing through the men.

"You know what, I'm tired. I'm gonna go get some rest before my break's over." The smaller man said to the larger one. He exited, and once the door shut, he started in the same direction that the young man went.


	2. Chapter 2

Updated twice in the same day? That probably rarely happens here. But, that being said I posted the first chapter sometime around 2:30 this morning (my time), and now it's almost 8 at night. I think it's a decent gap...

I'll try to get the next one up sometime tomorrow night. But as a warning, rape happens, but I don't think it's too graphic.

* * *

Chapter 2

Pavel's heart was racing. He knew that was him; he could feel it. He knew he was following him, so he ran into the engine room. He hid behind one of the large machines when he heard the door open and close again.

"I know you're here, kid." He said loudly. "I can taste your fear."

The man looked around, walking in his direction. Pavel could see him from where he was, and he hid in the shadows even more. When the man got closer, he moved to run somewhere else, and upon standing he hit one of the bruises on his arms. He made a small noise, but it caught the man's attention.

"There you are." He said, eyeing his prey. He walked over to him and grabbed him by his uniform, holding a firm grip so he couldn't run away. He moved his head in and smelled him; "You smell like fear."

Pavel finally got a good look at his face. He was definitely not much older than he was, but he had strange golden eyes that meant he wasn't human, but similar species. The man put his free arm on his neck, and he leaned in and started kissing his neck. Pavel fought the urge to make any moves.

His predator stopped, then looked down at him with a glare in his eyes. "You're going to pay for running away from me. I was almost worried I wouldn't find you."

His mouth crushed on his. He wanted to get away; he didn't want this. When he started using tongue, Pavel bit down. The older man yelped and pulled away.

"I do not vant zis." He finally spoke up. He's never said anything, not even during the first. Normally the words were scared right out of him, but this time felt different.

The other man put a finger on his tongue, and then stared at the golden blood that was coming out of it. He turned his head back to the boy and clenched his jaw. He formed a fist and punched the young man in the stomach, making him double over. He kicked him in the chest, and he fell over onto the ground.

Pavel's vision was blurred for a few seconds, but then when it was clear again, he saw his predator reaching towards him. He grabbed him, pulled him up and slammed him against one of the machines. He tried pushing his attacker, struggling to get away.

"Quit your new fascination with trying to think you have an option in this." He shifted his grip to his arms and he pinned them in place. He threw him onto the ground again. This time, he landed face first.

"Stop, please!" Pavel exclaimed.

"Stop talking!" He was kicked in the side and he cringed at the pain. His attacker stepped one leg over him, then knelt down on one knee. He was flipped while he was still under the older man, and was pinned to the ground. He leaned in to his ear and said, "Don't ever bite me again. You got that?"

Pavel looked at him and spat in his face. He wiped off his face, and then slapped him. He winced. He was hauled up again, and then thrown onto one of the smaller machines. The metal edge hit his back, and he cried out in pain.

"Please…don't do zis…" He said, starting to slide down.

His predator slapped him again, "I said NO talking!"

He started to undo Pavel's belt. Despite his pain, he head-butted his attacker and he flew backwards. He leaned one arm against the machine behind him and he looked at his predator. Then he saw that bloodthirsty look in his eyes that he knew so well. His attacker flew back at him, punching him again, and while Pavel was recovering, his pants and boxers were dropped to the ground. He was flipped and bent over the machine.

"Please," He coughed weakly, "stop…"

He felt a cold hand run across his back, and then the unzipping of the other mans pants. It was at this moment that Pavel wondered why there was no one around in the engine room, why there was no one there to help him. He felt the other mans member press into him, and he cried out again.

With every thrust from the other man, he felt weaker and weaker. He kept begging him to stop, and by the end he was in tears. He knew he was done when he felt fingernails digging into his back; he cried out again. The other man zipped his pants back up, and said, "I'll let you fix yourself up. I tried to be nice, and I'll make your life hell if you do this again." And without another word, he left.

Pavel coughed and reached down to his pants, and pulled them up. He adjusted his boxers under his pants, and while trying to stand up straight, he zipped and buttoned his pants, then re-did his belt. He breathed in deeply, trying to choke back tears as he wiped his eyes. He heard his name being called on his communicator by the captain.

"Chekov, if you're getting this, please respond."

He took another breath, and said, "Yes, captain, vhat do you need, sir?"

"Your break ended nearly a half hour ago, where are you? We need you at the bridge." He heard Jim say.

"I am sorry, captain. I must haf lost track of time. I vill be zere in a minute."

Ignoring the pain once more, he knew he had an obligation to continue working admirably, despite his condition.


	3. Chapter 3

Sorry for the short chapter. School happened again and I almost had to skip sleeping after my last post so I could write some of this, finish my homework from before winter break, and then I had to do a million things yesterday. Today wasn't as busy, so I had time to post it. As a plus, next chapter will have Spock in it. (: Also, I changed the description. I felt the one before it was too blunt...

Enjoy.

* * *

Chapter 3

Pavel was right, that last time was different. The next morning, he could barely move because he hurt so badly, worse than the day before. When he finally managed to sit up, he remained in that position for a few minutes. It was that moment he realized how far he was caught in this trap, how no matter what happened, he couldn't get out of this. He started shaking uncontrollably, and then started sobbing. He held his head in his hands, and closed his eyes, muttering things in Russian.

For the next hour, well into his shift, he sat there crying. Then he had a thought, one that he was suppressing, and with everything that happened, he couldn't hold it back any longer. He wanted to die. He was too afraid to tell anybody, and from what he learned the day before, it's worse when he tries to make it stop.

He slowly reached over to the cabinet underneath his bedside table and pulled out a bottle of Vodka and a shot glass. He poured some into the glass, and downed it. He did this a few more times before he set it down to start crying again. Because of how fast he was drinking, he already felt it affecting him. He was definitely a lightweight. When he finally felt it all reach his stomach, he slid down onto the floor, leaning against the bed.

For the next half hour he would switch between crying and drinking, doing a lot of one when he wasn't doing the other. His thoughts kept leading back to death, and how badly he wanted out of this situation. When he finally was done with the bottle, he wondered why he wasn't dead yet considering how much was in it.

"Vhy von't zis stop…" His mind replayed thoughts of the past incidents, mostly yesterday. How even when he was begging him to stop, he just kept going: throwing him around, hitting him. The pain was too much to bear. He couldn't stand it. He fumbled up off the floor, and tried making his way across the room, falling a few times, landing on healing bruises. He made it to his bathroom and looked himself in the mirror. He slept with his shirt on, and he took it off.

There were bruises strewn across his torso, and there were fingernail marks on his lower abdomen, almost on his hips. His hair was a mess, and his eyes were very red, his face discolored from crying. Angry, he slammed his fist into the mirror. It broke and glass dug into his skin. He was too drunk to even care about the pain, and he pulled the pieces out, discarding them into the trash (at least). He looked to the ground where an old uniform lay and picked up the phaser that was attached to his holster. He eyed it and looked at the settings. He flipped the switch on it, setting it from stun to kill.


	4. Chapter 4

I am TOTALLY sorry for the late post. I've had this one done for a while, but I was having login issues. Long story short, I'm an idiot and forgot my password. I should have the last chapter up sometime before the weekend.

As a plus, Spock finally shows up in this one. Enjoy.

* * *

Chapter 4

Spock was sitting at his station that day, checking gauges and making sure everything on the ship was always where it was supposed to be. He felt a tap on his shoulder, and turned to see Jim standing behind him.

"Yes, Jim, how may I help you?"

Jim folded his arms against his chest and replied quietly, "I need you to check up on our little Ensign, Chekov. He showed up late yesterday after his break, and he was supposed to be here two hours ago. I'd go it myself, but -"

"I understand, Captain." He said, standing. "I will go look for him."

"Try his cabin, he might just be asleep. He did stay late." Spock nodded, and started walking away. "Oh, and Spock,"

He turned back, "Yes, Jim?"

"See if you can get anything out of him. Something's up, I can feel it."

Spock gave him a curious look, then nodded and exited the bridge.

* * *

He walked down the hall to where Pavel's cabin was, and when he was in front of it, he knocked on it. He heard some trying-to-be-quiet movements from inside, and he knocked again.

"Mr. Chekov, may I have a word with you?" He listened in closer, "Mr. Chekov?" He heard some quiet crying coming from the inside; what he figured was one of his half-human instincts, he opened the door.

He didn't immediately see anything, and said, "Mr. Chekov?" He walked in slightly, and saw Chekov standing in front of a broken mirror; he also saw he was holding a phaser to himself through what was left of the mirror.

"Chekov – what are you…?"

"Do not come any closer." He whimpered. "Just, let me do zis. Please."

From the way he was talking, he knew what he was doing. He walked closer letting the door close again, "Mr. Chekov, this is highly illogical. There are no positives to…killing…yourself."

Pavel's lower lip was trembling. He turned to him. Spock's eyebrow raised, then his eyes widened when he processed what he saw in front of him.

"Look at me…I'm a mess!" He shouted, and started crying again.

Spock tried to shake off the emotions trying to well up inside of him. "Who did this to you?"

Pavel looked at the ground and wiped his eyes, "I do not know..."

"Obviously you have seen them, so -"

"I don't know!" He shouted.

He started walking closer to the younger man, very slowly, "Just calm down. Put down the phaser before someone gets hurt."

"I don't need to calm down! Just go avay and let me do zis." He pointed the phaser back at himself.

"You're not even holding it right." _What are you doing? Giving him tips on how to die?_ He shook his head and continued, "Hand me the phaser."

With every step closer, Pavel felt trapped. That same terrified feeling consumed his body as Spock made his way to him. The fact he was going slower only made the feeling worse.

"As First Officer of this ship, I order you to hand it to me." At this point he was just outside the bathroom door, and he held out his hand.

"NO!" He shouted before charging at him. As he pushed Spock back, he managed to catch him, before he got away. Pavel felt the same inescapable fear that he experienced the day before. "Let me go!"

"Mr. Chekov…your actions are…very…irrational!" He said, trying to restrain the struggling boy.

Spock tried to assess the situation logically. He knew he couldn't hurt the boy, because by the looks of him he's been through enough of that. Then he remembered what his future self said to him: '_Put aside logic. Do what feels right._'

Spock took a deep breath, then calmly said, "Che - er…Pavel. I beg you, please calm down. I'm not going to hurt you."

The boy's knees gave, and Spock slowly lowered him to the floor. It was at this point he realized how drunk he was. Because emotions weren't his strongest suit, he awkwardly tried comforting the boy as his crying slowed down. Whatever he was doing seemed to be helping. Spock carefully picked up the young man and walked him over to his bed and he sat him down before taking a seat next to him.

Spock put his arm around Pavel, his arm resting on a non-bruised part of his shoulder. After a few minutes of this, he finally asked, "What happened?" There was no response. "I assure you, whatever it is, you need to let it out." _Because humans bottle things up, when you finally snap it will be a lot worse because you can't control your emotions like Vulcan's…_ "You can trust me."

A few seconds passed. "I am too ashamed to say it…you vill laugh at me…"

"I promise you, I will not. Nothing that involves hurting another living being could possibly be a laughing matter."

Pavel looked up at Spock, who legitimately seemed concerned. He looked back at the ground and took a deep breath. "I…vas…" He closed his eyes and took another breath, "I vas raped, sir."

Spock's jaw dropped slightly, and he was taken very aback. "…Do you know what he looked like? You already established you do not know the name."

He nodded slowly. "I know he has golden eyes. Though, I did not see much more of him other zen zat."

_Golden eyes…where have I seen them before? Only one crewmember has them, I'm sure of it…wait…engine room worker? It has to be one of them._

"I think I know who you're talking about." He took out his communicator. "We will get this settled, today."

Pavel's eyes widened as he saw him pull it out and open it. Before he pressed the button to start speaking, he jumped for it. "No! Don't do zat!"

He knocked it out of Spock's hand, "What are you doing?"

"No, I do not vant ze captain involved. Or anybody for zat matter!" He fought Spock from trying to get up to retrieve it.

The vodka was finally catching up to the poor boy, and instead of leaping to grab it, he fell to the floor unconscious. Spock recognized this from the many times he had to bring Jim back from drinking. He knelt down on the ground and carefully picked up the boy and laid him down on his bed. He then moved over and grabbed his communicator from off the ground.

"Spock to the Captain."

There was a pause, and then Jim replied, "Go ahead, Spock."

Spock turned to look at Pavel; "I need a word with you in private. You should know where I am."

"Right. I'll be there in a minute. Kirk out."

* * *

A few minutes later, the door to Pavel's cabin door opened, and Jim walked in. His immediate view was of the boy, passed out on his bed. Spock was standing at the foot of his bed.

"Holy -" Jim walked in more, "What happened to him?"

"That is why I have asked you here. It appears Pavel has been having some problems with a crewmember on this ship."

"Jeez, I'll say. Did you get him checked out?"

Spock shook his head. "He did not even want me to contact you."

Jim took a deep breath. "Well, we'll have this man thrown in the brig." He turned to leave. "Call in McCoy to look at him."

"Jim," He stopped. "He wasn't just beaten."

Jim turned back around. "What do you mean?"

"He was raped, Jim."

Jim's heart stopped. He slowly turned back to Spock, who was now turned to him.

"When I found him, he was about to kill himself." Spock looked back. "He managed to get himself rather drunk, and it was only when he passed out that I was able to contact you." Spock shuffled his feet and put his hands behind his back. "He…is ashamed of what happened. Stripped of his innocence, and what manhood he had." He turned back to Jim. "The only thing he said is that the man had golden eyes."

Jim stared at the helpless young man lying in his bed. He clenched his fists, then said, "I want that man found and thrown off my ship."

"I think it would be best if I stayed here, especially when he wakes up. I'd rather him be mad at me for telling you then getting mad at you for knowing."

Jim thought about what he said for a moment, and then he nodded. "I guess I'll just do this myself. Make sure when he wakes up, let him know that everything is taken care of, then have Bones come up and look at him."

Spock nodded to Jim as he swiftly (and angrily) left the room. He walked over and took a seat on the edge of his bed. He stared at him how he was: beaten and bruised. He looked peaceful when he was asleep; he imagined that he would be. He took a deep breath, and then put his head in his hands and waited for him to wake.


	5. Chapter 5

Many apologies for this late post. I wanted it before last weekend, but last weekend was my school's speech tournament, and this week started semester 2, so I had so many things to do. But, seeing as my life is unimportant, I digress.

My apologies if anyone is OOC, especially near the end.

And now: the Final installment.

* * *

Chapter 5

Pavel groaned and shifted. His eyes fluttered open and took notice of his surroundings. He couldn't remember falling asleep, and then he noticed Spock sitting on his bed next to him.

"Vhat happened?" He said, voice cracking. He promptly cleared his throat. "Sorry…" He apologized, sitting up on his elbows.

Spock turned to him. "You passed out, most likely from all the alcohol you consumed before I arrived."

He was given a confused look, then ran a hand through his hair.

"And…I told the Captain what was going on."

"You vhat?!" He sat up completely, with the most worried look on his face. "No…no…how could you? No…no…" He fell back on his pillow holding his head, "Zis can't be happening…"

Spock put a hand on his shoulder, "It's all right." He leaned in closer, "The captain has personally went and assessed this matter. I can assure you, no one but us and Jim knows why he was thrown off."

"But – I didn't come into vork today. Zey vill assume zat I had somesing to do vith it." He said, looking up at Spock, still holding his head.

"Anyone that asked was told that you felt overworked and took a day to rest." Spock stopped. "But, with orders from the captain, I have to call Dr. McCoy in."

From out of nowhere, Pavel started crying again.

"Come on, now. If you continue crying, then..." Pavel looked up at him; Spock sighed, "Sit up...please." He did as he was told. Spock put a hand on his chin, "You're a strong, brave young man. No matter what happens, no one in their right mind would laugh at such a tragedy, and there is no need to feel ashamed of yourself. This is not speaking from logic," He let his hand down. "I'm saying this as a friend."

What happened next is what confused Spock the most. He figured it was just strange hormones running all through the teenager from everything that has happened. But, nonetheless, it happened.

Pavel wiped his tears away. Almost as if it were nothing, he leaned in and kissed Spock, right on the lips. He was stunned for a few seconds, but for some reason, he didn't pull back, but started kissing back. A hand was placed on Spock's, and he held it. When they finally broke it, there was an awkward silence. Though that was quickly broken by a voice calling for Spock on his communicator.

"McCoy to Spock, you there?"

Still staring at Pavel, he pulled out his communicator. "Spock here."

"Is the kid awake yet?"

"Affirmative. You may come up anytime." He put it back in his pocket. "What…what just happened?"

Pavel blushed, "I…do not know, sir."

They continued to stare until the door opened, and McCoy and Jim walked in, McCoy carrying a medical bag, and Spock stood up.

"Jesus, kid. You got the hell beat out of you." He scanned Pavel, and looked at the readings. "Why didn't you come to me sooner?"

"Will he be alright, Bones?" Jim asked.

McCoy nodded. "Yeah. I'll give him something to rub on his bruises, but you did crack a rib. Otherwise, he's physically fine."

Spock turned his head, "What about mentally?"

McCoy stared at the boy, then at Spock. "That'll take some time." He turned back to Pavel, "How do you feel, son?"

Pavel shifted uncomfortably, noticing all three sets of eyes on him. "Vell…eh…in pain, I guess you could say."

"That's to be expected, I guess. Figure I'd ask anyway." He reached inside his bag and pulled out a shot and used it on him. "That's for the initial pain." He searched through his bag more, and he pulled out a tube of ointment. "That's for your bruises. They'll heal faster. Otherwise – since the crack is rather small, it'll have to heal on it's own, but it shouldn't affect you too badly. Just don't make any sudden moves."

"Is zat it?" He asked, rubbing his neck and taking the ointment.

McCoy nodded. "I gotta hand it to you. I'm surprised you didn't break sooner, you're stronger then I expected for a kid." He turned back to Jim and Spock, "I think that's about all I can do here. I have some things I gotta do, so I should get going. Keep an eye on him." With that, he exited the room.

Jim turned his attention to Spock, "I have to go fill out some paperwork about why one of my crewmen was thrown out into space without any kind of life support. Will I catch you later?"

Spock looked down at Pavel, and back at Jim, "I think I might stay a little longer, make sure he's settled." Jim nodded and left the cabin.

"Zat shot made me tired…" Pavel said, lying back down.

Spock took a seat back on his bed. "You need your rest. It's been a long day."

"Vill you still be here vhen I vake up?"

Spock placed a hand on the younger man's, gripping it. "I promise I will."

Pavel smiled and closed his eyes; shortly after, he drifted off to sleep.

Spock didn't know what it was about that kiss – but it sent so many emotions flowing through him, he felt it hard to control them. He thought most of it had to do with the conditions of the day. A helpless person being 'saved', of sorts, by a stronger being would develop feelings of thanks. But perhaps it started before then? With the boy at least, Spock would have known if he had any kind of feelings for anything. Now he was not sure what to think, using logic or not. For once he didn't know how logic could even play into this. The whole thing was confusing for him, until he looked at Pavel.

_He _is _rather attractive…but, age? I guess it's similar to when I was with Nyota; only he's a few years younger…_

Then the words played in his head again. _Do what feels right…_ He knew he was feeling something developing inside him when he looked at Pavel now.

Pavel knew things would get better, and they did. Over the next few weeks, Spock and him started talking a lot more; feelings between them grew. Spock was very careful with him, not wanting to do anything wrong that could possibly give him any horrible flashback. Then came one night after Pavel was working late, and he decided to give Spock a late night visit. He knocked on the door, and after some shuffling was heard, he saw that familiar face appear from behind the door.

His mouth twitched in the way he recognized as a smile, "And what do I owe this pleasure?"

Pavel walked in so the door could close behind him. He reached up and grabbed the taller man's head and pulled him down for a kiss. Spock wrapped his arms around him, and pulled him in closer.

Spock broke the kiss and stared him in the eyes. "It was only logical to take it slow, I didn't want t-" He was broke off by another brief kiss.

"Vhen I'm vith you...." He put his arms around Spock, "I don't feel anysing, except good things." He paused.

"You make all ze pain go avay."


End file.
